Tag Archives: IT band recovery

The 30-Day Yoga Challenge :: Days 8 and 9

11 Jun

This weekend was packed from beginning to end, but I somehow found time to get my yoga on.

Day 8: Ashtanga 1

I was up bright and early for the eighth class of the 30-day yoga challenge. The class is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The pace is good for me (not too fast, not too slow) and I always leave feeling challenged, but not reconsidering my decision to participate in the challenge. Perfect.

On a side note, I went to class wearing a leotard used for my Black Swan costume last Halloween and some old Victoria Secret sweatpants. I should’ve popped on the Black Swan make-up, tutu and crown to complete the look:

Me and Donnie Halloween 2011

I was obviously overdue on doing my yoga laundry. I managed to squeeze in washing some clothes somewhere in my crazy busy Saturday. Otherwise I would’ve been doing yoga on Sunday in my old Adidas breakaways.

Day 9: Hatha 1

The slower pace of this class was perfect for winding down in the middle of a busy, busy weekend. And lucky for me, I had clean laundry!

The instructor for this class has been out of town the last couple of weeks but finally returned. As soon as I saw her face, a smile appeared on mine. I’ve only taken her classes a couple of times and hardly know her, but every time I see her I just feel warmth and happiness exuding from her. It’s hard for that to not be contagious.

After class she hands out hugs. I gladly took mine just before I headed off to meet my childhood besties for lunch.

IT Band Update

A few friends have asked how my IT band is doing. It no longer hurts to walk, or take the stairs, but I can tell that my right hip is much tighter than my left and I’m still aware of pressure by my right knee when I walk or sit a certain way. The yoga is certainly helping with the stretching and strength part, and I continue to roll my leg with both the foam roller and the stick. I’m still not running on it. I’m going to give it as much time as I can to heal so I can start my half marathon training session injury free (and hopefully stay that way).

Rest of the Body Update

Tonight’s class will be Day 10 of the challenge. I can’t believe it I’m so far in!

I spent my first week pretty much being sore everywhere, but now I just feel… stronger. My muscles everywhere are feeling it, which I find has me standing and sitting taller. I’m also feeling a bit drained, so I keep reminding myself to watch what I eat. The healthier option is always the better option when I’m going to spend my evening bending and twisting my body. 🙂

I’m off to start a busy week, planned around six yoga classes.

How are you sweating pretty this week?

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Taking It Easy

29 May

I’ve been doing a lot of ‘taking it easy’ since the marathon. I’ve been  sleeping in, staying up late, eating cupcakes and drinking whatever I want to drink without worrying about how much it will hydrate me.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake from Sweet Traditions in Winter Park. OMG.

It’s been nice fantastical.

But nonetheless, I’m getting restless. And there’s that issue where I recently split my pants. I took this as a direct sign from God that my ‘taking it easy’ time is over, and I need to start sweating stat.

But, of course, I need to ease in, and not push my IT band too much, or I’ll digress in my progress. By progress, I mean that I was able to go both up and down the stairs like a normal person at work today. Except for that little hop skip at the end where I decided that bending my leg was no fun. I’m going to miss my pirate peg leg.

Yesterday around noon I jumped on my stationary cycle and rode for 40 minutes. I chose to do a ‘random’ workout, which changes the level of intensity on me every couple of minutes. I almost punched the bike in the face a couple of times, coincidently when it went up to level 9.

I was able to ignore how much time I would be on the bad intervals or see that I had a bad interval coming up because my screen was blocked:

Say “hello” to my little friend.

That little buddy is my Nook. I finally finished up Bringing Up Bebe (Good: I learned a lot, but sometimes that doesn’t equate to being a page turner), and moved on to Gregor the Overlander (now this is a page turner). Around this time the rain started to fall hard around me and I couldn’t help but think I would rather be curled up on the couch reading this book. And then a level 9 interval kicked in, and I cursed. I like the Nook because it rests easily on my reading ledge and even though it has a touch screen, I can also opt to press the page over buttons to the side of the screen. This comes in handy when you’re as sweaty as I was yesterday.

And just like that, I was done:

3 warm-up + 40 min of random intervals + 3 cool-down

I headed into the kitchen, had a light lunch, waited for it to digest, then headed back out to the Florida room for workout #2: yoga. I picked this 73-minute class because it focused on the hamstrings. I think it worked because I was sore this morning!

This morning I woke up early and did a 30-minute random interval ride. Things were a bit rougher because I was a little (ahem) saddle sore. I had to keep readjusting to redistribute the pain.

3 min warm-up + 30 min random intervals + 3 min cool-down

After I jumped off the bike I could tell that my IT band was a little agitated. So I did a quick core workout then spent about 20 minutes  stretching every part of my legs.

It felt good to sweat.

Here’s the rest of my work-out for the week (sadly there’s no running included):

  • WED: Strength (hips/glutes) followed by a good long stretch and some brutal rolling of the legs
  • THU: Ride for 30 minutes on the ol’ stationary bike followed by strength (arms)
  • FRI: Easy yoga or rest (depending on how Happy Hour goes Thursday night)
  • SAT/SUN: Get one good yoga sesh in

With my training schedule I didn’t really plan many workouts because I am always so wiped from all of the running. This will be a nice change to have to plan ahead. Let’s see how well I do at sticking to the plan!

Do you plan your workouts out in advance? How well do you stick to the plan?

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